Family Defends Gary Coleman's Ex-Wife

Gary Coleman's ex-wife has been under fire for the way she sounded on that 911 call.  But now, her family is hitting back, defending her over the controversial way she dealt with the crisis.

Shannon Price has been accused of seeming cold and unemotional while Coleman was dying.  INSIDE EDITION spoke to Shannon's brother Shawn Price.

Shawn said, "First and foremost is that Shannon loved Gary more than anyone could possibly imagine. The second thing is, you've gotta know Shannon too. In situations, she panics a lot and doesn't know what to do.  If you knew those two, that's how they interacted."

Despite their divorce in 2008, Shannon and Gary still lived together.

Shawn, who has been acting as the family spokesman since Coleman's death last week, says the couple was on the verge of remarrying.

"It's so unfortunate that Gary was sick these last few months because he wanted to do a lot of things.  But he was in and out of the hospital every time and looking at his health, they just weren't able to," Shawn said.

It was Shannon who made the decision to remove Coleman from life support after a fall at his home in Utah.  Shannon's brother and Sheila Erickson, Coleman's agent in Utah, were both there when Shannon was given the tragic news that nothing could be done to save him.

"The doctors came to Shannon and said, Shannon, it's time. Gary's gone," Erickson said.

Shawn said, "She had a very hard time saying goodbye to him. It was almost an hour of straight crying."

Even before his fatal accident, Erickson says Coleman knew he didn't have long.

"He told me back in, I would say March, that he had less than a year left to live...I believe because of all the medical issues that he was having," Erickson said.

Meanwhile, Coleman's funeral has reportedly been put on hold because of unresolved issues between Shannon and Coleman's parents back in Illinois.